Why we are celebrating World Humanitarian Day at CTG

In 2021, 235 million people will need humanitarian assistance and protection

This number has risen to 1 in 33 people worldwide – a leap upwards from the 1 in 45 statistic which broke records at the launch of the Global Humanitarian Overview in 2020.

Over the past decade, humanitarian crises have been increasing in number and duration with causes ranging from human conflicts to climate-related disasters. With a growing population of people in need of assistance across the world, the commitment of humanitarian workers is becoming ever more essential. Today, companies like ours can offer crucial support to enable delivery of a huge variety of humanitarian programmes from gender equality and inclusion in Somalia, to healthcare, water and sanitation in Nigeria, and Explosive Hazard Management in Iraq to displacement tracking in Libya.

Why do we observe a day for humanitarian aid workers?

Launched in the memory of the 19 August 2003 bomb attack on the Canal Hotel in Baghdad, World Humanitarian Day is a commemoration of the 22 aid workers killed while working in Iraq. As a result, the day is a celebration of unsung heroes as well as a lamentation for those lost. In 2019, at least 483 relief staff were kidnapped, attacked, or killed, and the situation was no better in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic. By putting themselves in harm’s way and travelling to disaster areas to alleviate the suffering of others, humanitarian aid workers are some of the least recognised vulnerable groups in the world.

In recognition of the diversity of humanitarian and development challenges faced globally, World Humanitarian Day focuses on a different theme each year to shed light on these challenges and those in need of humanitarian intervention and support.

A Global Challenge for Climate Action

The IPCC recently issued a major report on the current climate crisis, concluding that human activity has had an undeniable role to play in the occurrence of extreme weather such as heatwaves, heavy precipitation, droughts, and tropical cyclones. The UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres has called the report a ‘Code Red’ for humanity, stating that the evidence for the climate crisis is now irrefutable.

This year in the wake of this report, World Humanitarian Day will be focusing on the immediate human cost of the climate crisis by pressuring world leaders to take meaningful climate action for the world’s most vulnerable people. In many parts of the world, it is often those who have contributed the least who are at the greatest risk of being impacted by the crisis – as well as being the most vulnerable to it. In conjunction with the development challenges they face, such as conflict, lack of infrastructure and lack of voice on the world stage, these vulnerable communities can be helpless to the global climate crisis, making global action more necessary than ever.

Our Commitment to World Humanitarian Day

CTG is a committed supporter of World Humanitarian Day. Our staff and consultants are at the heart of our operations, enabling the implementation of critical humanitarian and development projects in some of the world’s most challenging locations. Their wellbeing and safety is our priority, and we are committed to providing exceptional duty of care across all our operations, always.

Equally as important are the crisis-affected communities in which we operate. In commitment to them, and to this year’s Climate Action theme, CTG staff are participating in #TheHumanRace alongside other UN Agencies, governmental organisations and NGOs. CTG staff will be walking, running, swimming or completing any other physical activity for a cumulative 100 minutes, and sharing it publicly on Strava, to show their solidarity for those affected by crisis. We will be sharing our participation across our website and social media channels. Feel free to join in by completing your own 100-minute activity on Strava and uploading an image to social media using the hashtags #TheHumanRace #EnablingChange